Queen Amidala and her entourage were rescued from the clutches of the Trade Federation’s battle droids by Qui-Gon Jinn and Obi-Wan Kenobi.  Following her arrival at Coruscant, she donned this outfit in order to address the Galactic Senate.  She also had a brief conversation with Anakin while wearing it, before he realized IT WAS PADMÉ THE WHOLE TIME, when he stopped by her Coruscant apartment to say goodbye before beginning his training.  It was ornate, bold, and maybe a little ridiculous.  It was specifically designed to help Padmé remain “calm and aloof” according to the Visual Dictionary (via Wookieepedia).  But perhaps you’d be surprised to learn that it was directly inspired by real-life Earth fashion.  Specifically, 17th century Khalkha Mongols wore similar attire and hairstyles, something that Chris often tries to duplicate in his home on football Sundays.

Queen Amidala / Padmé wore tons of outfits throughout the prequels.  Over the years, Hasbro has seemingly made a mighty effort to pump out as many of these looks as possible.  I just did a very quick and rough count, and we probably have almost 20 different outfits that were made into “action” figures, especially if you count some of those that were worn as disguises by her handmaidens.  Many of them, of course, are of the “salt shaker” variety, but even the pickiest of collectors would likely have no problem with the lack of articulation in most of them. Particularly as queen, Padmé wore extraordinarily ornate outfits, many of which rendered her mobility useless for anything other than carefully sitting down, or walking slowly. 

This figure basically nails the on-screen character and outfit, nearly to the point where there isn’t much that could be improved upon.  I’m not even sure FACE! would make a difference, as Padmé wore special makeup that was deliberately intended to obscure her features, contributing the whole decoy thing.  The figure captures the essence of the design, with its tremendously detailed and various textures sculpted into the robes.  Depending on how you look at it, there might be 5 different texture patterns present around the outer robe and sleeves.  The body of the robe is a separate piece, giving the figure that extra depth and quality we always mention. The paint is excellent all around.  The outfit has 4 different colors.  The ornate headdress is painted in a metallic gold that really stands out.  There is even additional sculpting on the hair and headdress to bring out more details.

As for articulation, it is essentially a salt shaker in practice, although Hasbro did make the legs separate from the dress.  They do move forward and back just a bit (as much as the skirt will allow), so I only can assume they are swivel hips.  There are also true ball joints at the forearms.  By this, I mean that it’s a real ball-and-socket sculpt, as opposed to what we get today which is a combo of swivel/hinge/ball joints for the most part.  As such, the hands can kind of roll around inside the sleeves, with a little bit of range of motion.  The head is a swivel, but the range is fairly negligible.  Again, this figure didn’t “just stand there” in the film (as some foolish collectors like to say makes such articulation OK) as a result of the fact that the character was only captured standing still.  This gown was specifically designed so that the queen wouldn’t do much else other than stand and look regal and impressive.  So the character doesn’t “just stand there”, she’s supposed to just stand there. So the salt shaker articulation isn’t a cost compromise, this look is true to the character/outfit. 

It’s a great looking figure I’m not sure that modern tech can really add anything.  The figure has done well to stand the test of time for the past 20 years.  It might be one of the best figures in the Episode I line, and Hasbro certainly shouldn’t be in any rush to re-do it.  It seems crazy to call it definitive, but it basically is just that.  So I’m going to go crazy and call this figure from 1999 “definitive.”  It isn’t just worthy of being a placeholder in your display, it may actually be the figure that works permanently.  I will rate this a 7/10, which is the same score I gave VC84 Queen Amidala.  That’s not a knock on that TVC release, it’s a stamp of approval for this Episode I figure.  Nice job, Hasbro!